


Prompts drabbles

by featherlesscas



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-08-19 23:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16544186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/featherlesscas/pseuds/featherlesscas
Summary: Tina turned slowly in a circle, her wand in front her her and her eyes moving from place to place trying to pinpoint anything that seemed wrong. “Can you feel this?”Johnson just looked at her perplexed. “Feel what?”Tina continued to look everywhere and whispered “Like someone is watching us.”





	1. "Can you feel this?" - No relationship

Tina walked briskly towards the alley where she could meet with the others aurors. She had just been informed of the case when she was on her way back from a meeting with one of her informant and had immediately rushed there. She only hoped that the crime scene wouldn’t be too much disturbed by all of the commotion. 

Because a commotion was surely happening right now. It was the third murder in less than a week and the auror department was in an uproar. At least, what was left of the department after the Grindelwald scandal. A lot of reshuffle has been underway with people being reassigned to previous posts, fired or being on leave waiting for their trials. The auror department was understaffed and a lot of people were distrustful of each other, not knowing if they were in with Grindelwald or not.

Tina was lucky to have gotten her old job back. And it was surely thanks to her involvement with Newt Scamander and his creatures which lead to the discovery of Grindelwald’s impersonation of Percival Graves. 

Sometimes Tina still had difficulties to adjust to the fact that Graves was not at his desk. The director had always seemed untouchable, giving an aura of power and stability. She had often taken comfort in the fact that Graves was the rock of the department. Everyone kind of feared him but they all had an incredible amount of respect and awe for him. And the fact that no one knew exactly what happened to him or if he was even still alive was unbearable. Tina felt like something was weighing in her stomach when she thought about it. It was probably the sum of the guilt for not noticing anything was amiss and the worry for not finding any clues about his whereabouts yet. 

Tina’s thoughts were interrupted when she arrived at the alley. She saluted the junior auror who was keeping watch on the corner of the street before passing through the notice-me-not charm that has been casted around the scene. Once inside, she noticed that only a couple of aurors were remaining. Apparently she received the message quite late if the others aurors already left.

Eva Johnson was among the two aurors left. She was a hard-working auror a few years older than Tina and they worked several cases together before. They got along well and were currently working on this case since the first murder. 

Johnson was currently casting a spell towards a mark on the ground which looked suspiciously like a blood stain and Tina looked towards the victim whose body was under a white sheet. Because of the narrowness of the alley and the heights of the buildings on either sides, the alley was quite dark even though it was mid-morning, making the atmosphere of the place quite gloomy. 

Next to the body, the coroner was already closing his case full of colorful vials and Tina hurried towards him before he could leave.

“Morning, Miller. What can you tell me?”

Miller turned towards her and sighed. “Well, same as the other victims so far. The body has been drained of all blood and two punctures wounds can be found on her neck.”

Tina frowned. “So a vampire? Like the two previous victims?”

“It would seem so. But I need to get back to my lab to analyze the samples and to give you more information.”

“Yes, of course,” Tina nodded and moved back a little to give him space. “Send me a message as soon as you have finished.”

Miller just grumbled an assent and picked up his case before he apparated away with the body.

“Isn’t he just charming?” 

Tina turned towards Johnson who had come behind her and smiled, “Indeed, a true ray of sunshine, like always.”

“Well, working with dead all day does wonder for your people skill I suppose.” Johnson winked at her and Tina snorted. 

She then became more serious. “What have you found?”

Johnson sighed. “Not a lot so far. All I can say is that the victim is a young woman of 25 years old, no-maj.”

“A no-maj, hmm? Like the others victims…”

Tina frowned. A series of no-maj murders was not what MACUSA needed right now, especially not right after Grindelwald. Their situation was already quite unstable and they had three murders in less than a week. Add to that the fact that it was surely a young vampire which couldn’t control itself and the situation couldn’t be worse.

“And what about the vampire? Do you have any lead?”

Johnson shook her head and grimaced. “No, they’re like a ghost. We couldn’t find anything that could help us find them.”

Tina sighed and said. “We really have to arrest them before there is another victim. Three no-maj are already too much and it could cause a-” 

Suddenly Tina tensed and took out her wand, looking around her. Johnson took her wand out as well and asked quietly, “What is it?”

Tina turned slowly in a circle, her wand in front her her and her eyes moving from place to place trying to pinpoint anything that seemed wrong. “Can you feel this?”

Johnson just looked at her perplexed. “Feel what?”

Tina continued to look everywhere and whispered “Like someone is watching us.”

Johnson tensed and casted a spell to reveal any human presence in the vicinity. When it came blank, she relaxed and smirked at Tina. “There is no one here except us, Tina. And the vampire would be an idiot to come back here anyway.”

Tina stopped moving and lowered her wand slowly. “Yeah, you’re right. It probably was my imagination.” She sent Johnson a reassuring smile but couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had been watching them.

Johnson looked at her for a little while longer before shrugging. “Well, we have done what we could here. I suggest we go back to our offices so we can gather further information.” 

Tina looked at her and nodded. “And we have to wait for Millers’ results too.”

Johnson suddenly clapped her hands together and smiled at Tina. “But, you know what we need right now? A big cup of coffee! No offense, but you look like you need it Tina.”

Tina had to admit that coffee was exactly what she needed. Eva was not wrong when she said that she could use it. She wasn’t sleeping well these days. With Grindelwald going to be transferred to Europe, the uncertainty of what happened to Director Graves, the changes in the department and this new case, she had a lot in her mind. Maybe it was her lack of sleep that unsettled her earlier. Johnson was right. The vampire wouldn’t go back here and the spell hasn’t revealed anything. 

Tina shook her head slightly and decided that she should think about taking a dreamless sleep potion tonight if she wanted to do her job correctly. She would only be a burden if she wasn’t one hundred percent focused. And as Graves always said, when you’re not focused on your job, errors are made that can cost lives and in her type of work, errors are inadmissible. Well, at least, that’s what she remembered. Graves had always the gift to give inspirational and eloquent speeches but, being a pragmatic, she preferred to keep the most important facts in her mind instead of remembering all his speeches.

Tina finally stowed her wand in her pocket. “Yes,” she agreed, “a cup of coffee sounds lovely. Thank you Eva.” 

Johnson smiled brighter at her answer and hooked her arm underneath Tina’s to steer her away from the scene. “Wonderful! I just know the perfect place and it’s only one street from here.”

Tina hummed and let herself be guided by Eva. She still looked one time behind her to be sure but when she saw nothing strange, she decided it had been her imagination after all and followed Eva away from the crime scene.

Unbeknownst the her, just as she was going to turn to get to the street, a dark figure broke away from the darkest shadows at the end of the alley. Two dark brown eyes under thick eyebrows followed her movement until she turned the corner of the street. The black figure then moved gracefully towards the location where the body was minutes before. The man crouched down and moved one hand above the aforementioned spot, slowly moving it back and forth. He then stood up and looked one more time towards the opening of the alley before turning around and walking back to where he came from. The black figure seemed to merge with the shadows once more.

A few moments later, the junior auror that was positioned at the corner of the street appeared and casted some spells to erase all traces of what happened before lifting the notice-me-not spell and apparating away, unaware of what happened mere minutes before.


	2. "No worries, we still have time." - No relationship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tina ducked back behind the crates and whispered, “They are almost finished moving the boxes. Can we still do it?”
> 
> “No worries, we still have time.” Graves then smirked, “And they have created the perfect opportunity to do it.”

Three figures were crouching behind crates that were stacked precariously in a corner of the decrepit warehouse. It was clear that the warehouse hadn’t been used for years. Water was dripping from the roof in multiple places making the floor slippery and rendering the air humid. Some gaps could even be seen in the walls, allowing the wind to create freezing drafts that made the party chivering. Percival Graves whispered a heating charm to keep them warm for the time being.

They could hear people moving heavy boxes and others items while sometimes hollering orders at each other. Graves moved silently towards the edge of the crate and peeked around it swiftly. He then moved backwards to rejoin his two aurors who had stayed unmoving, informing them of what he saw.

“There are at least five people,” he whispered.

Tina Goldstein, newly appointed junior auror, scrunched her nose and answered. “They weren’t supposed to move until the end of the week though.” She paused to exchange a worried glance at Warren Collins, her fellow junior auror then looked back at Graves and continued, “What are we going to do, sir?”

Graves looked at them then sighed. “It would be difficult to act right now. They moved quicker than we expected and we don’t have the adequate number to deal with them.”

Tina frowned and hissed quietly. “But we can’t let them go!’

Graves gave her a dry look and raised an eyebrow, making Tina look down and bite her lips, embarrassed by her outburst. Tina was a promising auror but she had difficulties to keep her emotions in check, especially when she witnessed an injustice or a blatant infraction of the law. Graves hoped that she would learn to control her feelings with the experience gained on the field, otherwise he couldn’t, in good conscience, promote her. It could be too dangerous in their line of work. 

Collins eyed them for a few seconds before he intervened, “What do you suggest then, sir?”

Graves sighed internally. It was supposed to be an easy assignment : following a previously convict who was suspected of smuggling parts of magical creatures in order to catch him and his underlings in the act later. This guy, James Wilson, had to be released two years ago from lack of evidences but a recent investigation showed that he was back to business. Graves had decided to take two junior aurors with him to show them how to practically follow a target without being noticed and it worked pretty well at first. Until the guy decided to enter the warehouse to meet with his fellow outlaws because it was precisely the day the smuggling was happening.

What had begun as a simple tailing had quickly turned to a problematic affair, especially with two junior aurors to deal with and no reinforcement. It would seem that his intel had not been as accurate as he hoped it would. And this fact made him quite irritated. But he couldn’t endanger his juniors. They had passed all their examinations with great success but they hadn’t taken part in an actual confrontation yet. And even though he knew that they were quite eager to show what they were capable of, it was not the most advantageous situation for it. He had a choice to make that would surely not be easily accepted but that’s one of the reasons he was Director of Magical Security.

“We can’t act now, there are too many liabilities,” admitted Graves. Before Tina could interrupt him, he raised his hand and continued, “I know you want to arrest them but we don’t know their exact numbers and we have no reinforcement available. You have to choose your battles.”

While Tina clearly didn’t accept the situation, she nodded grudgingly and looked towards Collins who nodded back. 

Graves took a quick look towards the activity that was still happening in the warehouse then turned back towards his juniors. “While we can’t do something to them now, we still can put a tracking charm to the shipment in order to catch the recipients.” 

They suddenly heard a bigger commotion outside and took a stealthy look at what was still happening inside the warehouse. It seemed like most people had already left to see what the big deal was while one person was continuing moving boxes.

Tina ducked back behind the crates and whispered, “They are almost finished moving the boxes. Can we still do it?”

“No worries, we still have time.” Graves then smirked, “And they have created the perfect opportunity to do it.” He then took a nail that was on the floor near the bottom of the crates and gave it to Collins. “Here, enchant it.”

Collins took the nail and murmured the charm, making the nail glow a bluish color before it returned to its natural state. “Done,” he whispered, “Now what?”

Graves took the nail back and gave it to Tina. “Now, you create a diversion to stick this nail to one of the boxes.”

“What kind of diversion?”, asked Tina, looking at the nail in her hand and feeling a surge of nervosity zapping through her body.

Graves smirked, “Why don’t you show me?”

Tina lifted her head to look at Graves, her wide eyes fixing him, incredulously. Then she saw the look of confidence in his eyes and took a deep breath before looking towards the person still working. The commotion outside the warehouse was still ongoing but she knew that she was not going to have that much time before they all came back. She needed to find a diversion, the quicker the better.

Just then, something wet dropped on her cheek. Tina brought her hand to swipe at it before looking up. She smiled : they were in a warehouse that was practically falling apart, a diversion would be quite easy to undertake. 

She looked rapidly around the room before spotting a pipe that was almost falling at the other side of the warehouse. That was perfect to create a movement startling enough for the person to investigate but not enough to alert the others that were outside. She lifted her wand and began to murmur a spell to loosen the screw that was holding the pipe to the wall. 

When she finished, the pipe suddenly fell and hit the floor with a loud clanking sound that made the person jump. He turned towards it while brandishing his wand and moved slowly to investigate the place of impact. 

Tina took the opportunity to levitate the nail towards one of the last remaining boxes and fixed it onto one side before ducking back behind the crate. She then blew out a breath quietly before looking at Graves who nodded at her briefly, then at Collins who gave her a thumbs up. She smiled and turned her attention towards the entrance of the warehouse where the rest of the people were coming back to transport the rest of the smuggling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the non-original names of the OC (I have no imagination for this)


	3. “At least, it can’t get any worse.” - Gramander

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But when the testimonies reported giant purple flying snakes and a sort of platypus with an abnormal amount of agility, warnings bells were ringing in his head. 
> 
> This situation could only lead to one person : Newton Artemis Fido Scamander.

Percival Graves apparated in the dark alley, away from any non-maj eyes. The reports he had received a few minutes ago were already alarming enough without him adding to it. It seemed that some animals were witnessed roaming in this area. Usually, Graves couldn’t care less about it. He let the no-maj police deal with that sort of situation. But when the testimonies reported giant purple flying snakes and a sort of platypus with an abnormal amount of agility, warnings bells were ringing in his head. 

This situation could only lead to one person : Newton Artemis Fido Scamander.

Since the events that happened during the winter 1926, no issue regarding Scamander and his case were reported in America. Which was something Graves was grateful for, considering the predisposition of this man for attracting troubles. But he should have known it couldn’t last. Less than 2 years from the anniversary of his most serious failure as Head of Security and trouble was brewing in his city. Trouble arising from one Newton Scamander. Again.

But this time, Graves was fully functional and not incapacitated by one lunatic dark lord in the making. And he was going to smother this matter promptly without having to resort on a full-town obliviation. Once in his career was already one too many.

So here he was, in a dark alley, observing his surroundings to notice anything that could help him pinpoint Scamander or any of his beasts. His aurors would soon be joigning him but he decided to have a head start to minimize the damage that could emerge in the meantime.

The alley looked like any other alley in New-York. Dark, cold, damp and with garbage cans on the sides. Nothing unusual to witness. Graves decided to head towards the busiest street nearby where a lot of testimonies came from. 

Because if Graves knew one thing is that if you want to find Scamander, you only have to follow the trouble he sowed.

As Graves was going to turn the corner to come out of the alley, he spied a glimmer from the corner of his eyes. Something was glinting a few feets from where he stood, and crouching, he could see that some piece of jewelry was stuck between two cobblestones.

‘Well, there is the niffler’s trail,’ he thought, already feeling the headache that was beginning to form in his head thinking about all the repairs and obliviation Macusa would have to perform. But first, he had to find the beasts and their reckless caretaker.

Graves stood up and leveled his wand towards the earring. He murmured a spell and the piece of jewelry glowed blue before it began to rise up and float in the air. He then murmured the second part of the spell and the earring moved, following the trace of the last magical being that had come in contact with it. This particular spell was quite useful in the auror department to catch amateur thieves who left traces behind their misdeed but Graves never thought he would have to use it to follow a niffler. What has his life come to?

Nevertheless, he followed dutifully the earring while looking around, making sure that nothing undoubtly magical was apparent. He only walked for over one block when he stopped suddenly. He could feel his headache worsening at the sight of some doors of a warehouse completly blown inwards like something very big had forced them open. Something very big and clearly not no-maj, considering the imprint of huge wings on the doors left behind by what Graves was pretty sure was an occamy. 

“I guess I know where the huge purple flying snake has gone to…,” he muttered under his breath. 

Before entering, Graves lifted his wand and send a repelling spell all around the warehouse. He then took a deep breath to prepare himself mentally for what he was going to see inside the building. Surely, Scamander couldn’t have done a lot of damage with so little time.

How wrong he was.

Graves could only gape at the sight that welcomed him once he was inside the warehouse. It seemed like a small tornado has swept everything in its path : all the crates were either torn open like they slammed into the walls or stacked precariously on each other to form piles against the walls. The goods which were inside the crates were scattered over the floor and small clouds of dust and ashes were swaying in the air, moving from the wind coming from what was left of the entrance at his back. A strong scent stagnated in the room, like a burnt smell which made him scrunch his nose. But it could explain the burnt marks that he could see over the floors, the walls and even on the ceiling. Clearly, something had caused a huge fire that was fortunatly smothered.

But what made Graves almost hit his forehead with his hand was the sight of the instigator of all this mess. Scamander was in the middle of the shambles, covered in dust and ashes and with an occamy drapped all over his shoudlers. He was crouching in front of his infamous case and it looked like he has just closed it before Graves came in. No other creatures were in sight but he was certain that Scamander had shoved them inside his case to minimize the gravity of his situation. Though Graves couldn’t wait to hear what explanation he would give. He decided then to clear his throat to announce his presence.

At the sound, Scamander turned around and while still on one knee, looked up towards Graves with a sheepish smile. His face was covered with a thin layer of ashes and his hair had lost their usual vibrancy under all the soot. 

“Hello,” he muttered. His hesitancy could be heard by his tone and by the way his gaze lowered towards Graves’ tie instead of his eyes. 

Graves just looked at him and raised an eyebrow which made Scamander fidget and finally stand up, carrying his case with him.

After almost one minute of uncomfortable silence, Graves decided that he ought to speak if he wanted any explanation at all.

“Mr Scamander, would you care to explain what exactly happened here?”

Scamander looked up and met his eyes before quickly looking away. “Well, hum, I may have had a little mishap with my case but it’s all settled now, don’t worry.”

“Do you often consider setting a fire inside a building, and detroying it by the same occasion, a little mishap?”

Scamander smiled sheepishly. “I can’t say I do, no.” He then approached Graves and asked timidly. “Am I going to be in trouble, Mr Graves?”

Graves closed his eyes while he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his forefinger. He then let out a sigh before answering. “You should be, Mr Scamander. You really should be.” Graves looked back towards Scamander and realized how close the other man suddenly was. He inhaled quietly before looking up into Scamander’s eyes. He huffed a breath when he saw the hint of mischief that dwelled in them. “And as always, you don’t take this seriously.”

Scamander chuckled. “Well, you have to admit it is quite funny.”

“That you destroyed an entire warehouse?”, Graves asked in a dull tone.

“Hum, no, obviously not that. Actually, I was planning on suprising you but Nadia here”, he petted the occamy around his shoudlers before continuing, “decided to travel a little bit and things kind of get out of hand?”

Graves only looked at him unimpressed which made Scamander continue to ramble.

“But in my defense, I didn’t expect this to happen too and I tried to keep the trouble to a minimum but then Nadia found a phoenix inside a spelled cage and I couldn’t let this poor creature there. He is in such a terrible state, Percival.”

“A phoenix?,” asked Graves surprised. “That would explain the fire then.”

“Hum, yes, he was quite frightened but he calmed down pretty quickly when he saw I was here to help. They are quite intelligent creature, you know?” Newt looked at Graves with a hint of wonder in his eyes and Graves sighed.

“You’re a mess, Newt Scamander.”

Scamander smiled before answering shyly, “But I’m your mess.”

Graves couldn’t stop his snort. “That was so bad, Newt.”

Newt blushed but kept looking at Graves, a hint of a smile on his lips which made Graves focus on them. Graves then looked up at his eyes and smiled too. Even though Newt would always bring trouble with him, Graves was glad to see him again. It was almost a month since he had left for a trip in Asia to discover new creatures and Newt was quite forgetful at the best of times so news of his travel have been rather irregular these past few weeks. So irregular that Graves hasn’t known the other man had come back in america until now.

Graves advanced a step closer to Newt and took the hand that was not holding his case. “Welcome home, Newt.”

Newt’s answering smile was bright and lit his whole face. He then squeezed Graves’ fingers and murmured, “I wanted to surprise you at home but…”, he trailed of nervously, his eyes moving from Graves’ eyes to his shoulder.

“But you decided that destroying a warehouse was the best way to announce your presence?” Graves smirked then continued, “At least, it can’t get any worse.”

As fate would have it, just at that moment, the niffler decided to make his reappareance, running towards them as quickly as his little legs allowed him, followed by two policemen crying after it while shaking their arms wildly. 

“Well, you had to say it.” Newt casted over his shoulder while crouching in order to catch the mischevious beast. 

Graves huffed before stunning the two no-maj and slowly lowering them on the ground. After making sure that the niffler was back in the case and reminding Newt about the presence of the occamy on his shoulder, he sent a patronus to his other aurors. Guess he wouldn’t be back home for quite a while, needing to resolve the mess his partner has initiated. Still he couldn’t help a smile. Having Newt in his life far ouweighted the trouble he could bring. And if he was being honest with himself, chasing after magical creatures was more preferable than chasing after criminals anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and/or advices would be appreciated ;)


	4. “I’ll tell you but you’re not gonna like it.” - Gramander

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percival Graves and Newt Scamander are on the search of a magical creature in the sewers of New-York.

“Oh dear...”

Percival Graves glanced at the man beside him who had just let out the exclamation. Newton Scamander was currently on his knees and poking with his wand at a greenish gelatinous substance smeared on the floor. Graves couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows at the display. The number of times he had seen the magizoologist use his wand in ways that were thoughtless and potentially dangerous was beginning to be quite frankly worrying. Graves didn’t have the faintest clue on how Newt hadn’t already set fire to something or caused an explosion with his careless handling. 

“This is quite interesting…” Newt muttered while he raised his wand, a string of the matter still connected to it. He then run his forefinger across the substance, severing the link with his wand. He hummed while he smeared the matter between his thumb and his finger before raising them towards his mouth.

Graves, who had expected something of this nature, quickly stepped in and took hold of Newt’s wrist before the other man could taste the substance, which was frankly even more disgusting than what he had expected when he took a closer look. 

“Newt, we have talked about this, “ Graves admonished him. “Do not put anything strange in your mouth. Remember what happened last time?”

Newt looked a bit sheepish before muttering a quiet sorry, which didn’t feel quite genuine. Graves was certain that Newt regretted the fact that he was caught more than his attempt at tasting the substance. The magizoologist always argued that the sense of taste was one of the most important sense in the animal kingdom and was usually overlooked when investigating the presence of a creature. A fact that, more often than not, led him into some unfortunate situations. At least, this time, Graves was there to prevent it.

Sensing that the message was received correctly for once, Graves released Newt’s wrist. He then glanced at him in order to ask what was so interesting before he suddenly narrowed his eyes. Newt’s expression was guarded but his eyes were alight with excitation and awe. 

“Oh no…” Graves felt dread settling into his bones. He knew that look. It was the look that foretold trouble, substantial property damage or, most likely, destruction of said property, and a huge pile of paperwork to top it all. 

“What is it, Newt?,” he asked apprehensively, perhaps a little bit louder than he intended to but a feeling of unease was beginning to rise inside him. “What kind of beast is it?”

Newt turned towards him, raising his eyes to meet his before lowering them a little. “I’m not entirely certain yet….” 

Newt let the sentence unfinished which made Graves raised one of his eyebrows, awaiting a more precise answer. Newt glanced at him once more before continuing. 

“I have some ideas thought. Not a lot of magical creatures leave such a concentrated substance behind and it always serve a particular purpose. Hum… for example, it could be used to attract a mate, the residual magic in it enticing a potential partner. I always have thought that non-magical animals release something like this too, maybe a protein or a kind of hormone? The muggle or hum… no-maj scientists are making some interesting discoveries in this domain, you know? Or, it could be -”

At this point, Graves raised his hand in order to stop Newt’s chatter. “Not that I don’t find it all interesting, but maybe you could get to the point? I have to get back to MACUSA soon and I would like this issue resolved as soon as possible.”

Colour rose to Newt’s cheeks, embarrassed by his habit of rambling when it concerns magical creatures. He glanced quickly towards Graves and felt himself relax when he spotted the smile that the other man couldn’t quite hide. 

“Yes, I understand. Hum… I’ll tell you, but you’re not going to like it,” Newt imparted with a small smile, knowing perfectly well what the Director of Magical Security would have to say about the creature he suspected they would find.

“Of course,” Graves sighed. “Since when has my life been easy?”

Newt let out a laugh before answering, “You would get bored otherwise.”

Graves snorted but didn’t follow their banter, knowing that Newt was right about this. As much as his work was difficult and exhausting, he still loved it. And he had to admit that he much preferred to chase after beasts than after dark wizards or smugglers who only showed him the worst humanity has to offer. At least, with magical creatures, he knew where he stood. And the presence of Newt with him while investigating these cases was an added appeal that he could appreciate as well.

“So, what kind of creature do you think is leaving such a track?” 

“Well, from what I gathered from the substance and the environment we are in, I would say we are after a kind of centipede,” Newt answered, his eyes shining with wonder.

Graves looked dubiously at the amount of the gelatinous substance that was covering the sewers and furrowed his eyebrows. “A centipede…,” he repeated quietly. He then turned back towards Newt and continued, “Are we looking for one individual or a colony?”

“Oh! It is a frequent misconception actually,” Newt answered promptly. “Centipedes don’t form colonies as such. They can be found in high density when the environment is favorable but they are basically solitary animals. I think we are looking for one creature this time.”

The feeling of uneasiness Graves felt before came back at full force. “Then…” He gestured towards the amount of matter, trying not to think about the only possible explanation.

“Ah yes… Well, you see, magical centipede are quite know for their substantial size.”

“Newt…,” Graves looked at him, trying to catch his eyes before asking tightly, “How big are we talking about?” 

The fact that Newt drew out the main characteristic of this beast or the look of excitement in his eyes that appeared as soon as he discovered the gelatinous substance and hasn’t left yet didn’t bode well, not well at all.

“Hum… It depends on the species but they are usually around 25 feet long and 2 feet high.” 

At this, Graves couldn’t help but let out an exclamation of bewilderment, eyeing Newt with perplexity. Even more so when he saw that the magizoologist was more excited to find this creature than wary about the size of it.

Newt ignored him and his piercing gaze and continued on. “Their size is kind of amazing actually because - “

The rest of Newt’s speech was cut off by a dull sound echoing from further down in the sewers. It was soon followed by a loud screech which seemed to reverberate from all sides.

Graves was directly on guard and put an arm out in order to stop Newt from running towards the sound.

“Don’t run first head into danger!” He scolded Newt, trying to look further into the dark of the place they were in.

“But you don’t understand!,” Newt exclaimed. “These creatures are known for only emitting a sound under serious distress. I have to go help it!”

Newt then looked at Graves directly for once, daring him to deny his wish to help a magical creature in need.

After a few seconds of them staring at one another, Graves sighed and lowered his arm. He knew that Newt would do anything to help magical creatures and it would be foolish of him to try and stop him. It would only complicate matters and he prefered to keep Newt in his sight.

“Alright,” he agreed. “But we are going together.”

Newt gave him a small smile of relief and nodded.

“And if there is any sign of danger, you’ll follow my lead this time,” he instructed, subtly reminding Newt of the previous circumstances when he hadn’t heeded his warnings.

Newt only passed him by, heading towards the place where the screeches were coming from, his mind already on the potential causes for the creature’s distress and how to solve them.

Graves quickly gripped his wrist, stopping him from moving forwards, which made Newt look back at him, impatiently. Graves’ face was lowered and his expression was closed off, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Newt relaxed, put his hand above Graves’ one and smiled gently. 

“Hey,” he said while squeezing Graves’ hand to make him look up. Once they locked eyes, Newt continued. “It won’t be like last time. I promise.”

“You better,” Graves huffed, “One stay at the hospital was quite enough.” 

“Yeah… sorry about that,” Newt mumbled, feeling bad about what happened and the trouble he caused for Percival.

Graves was no stranger to stays at the hospital for various injuries from his work but seeing Newt unconscious, covered in blood and being rushed into the emergencies was not an experience he was keen to repeat again. Not if he was there to prevent it.

“Just…,” Graves conceded, “stay close to me.”

“I’ll try,” Newt bargained, knowing that Percival would understand his need to save creatures but reassuring him that he would take precautions to avoid getting hurt nonetheless.

“Alright then.” Graves knew that it was the most Newt would compromise on this matter and decided to accept it. “Let’s go and find that centipede.”

Newt smiled at him warmly, squeezing Graves’ hand before letting go. Then, they both headed towards the path leading to where they expected to find this magical creature. Graves only hoped that they could save the animal without further complications or injuries. 

After all, he didn’t wish to spend the night next to a hospital bed but much preferred to sleep beside his husband at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for info : 25 feet is 7,62 meters and 2 feet is around 60 cm ;)


End file.
